


Cloud Watchers Society

by BobSaysHelloFromNL



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Arthur is a disaster, Freshers, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pining Arthur, UCL, Uni life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:00:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26803297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BobSaysHelloFromNL/pseuds/BobSaysHelloFromNL
Summary: In which Arthur is a disaster of a student and falls in love at first sight with a stranger at the Fresher’s Fair. Too bad he won’t ever see him again, or will he?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	Cloud Watchers Society

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the very real cloud appreciation society of which I'm not a member (yet)  
> Also inspired by my own uni and halls life, although it should be noted that Arthur's thoughts on things do not reflect my own at all. I'm just trying to make it semi-in-character. Hehe. I don't even like bubble tea but somehow it kept popping up in conversation.
> 
> (If at any moment it may seem as if Arthur’s dishing on a particular society, he's just being a bit of a prat, you know? Nothing personal, I love the dorky diverse societies)
> 
> I wouldn’t call this my best piece of writing ever - in fact I really dislike some phrasings and the general structure - but in a way it was nice reminiscing about my own Fresher’s experience in simpler times. I did not even mean to make it about Fresher’s, it all started with the idea for a Cloud Watcher’s Society at UCL and then somehow I wrote this. I actually wrote it a few weeks back now, but with my lectures finally starting up on Monday I figured that if I didn’t edit and post it now I never would. Who knows, maybe someone can find enjoyment out of it!
> 
> Oh and I don't think the cloud watchers society is actually a thing at UCL, not that I'm aware of at least.  
> If they do exist, please hit me up xD

After a week filled with beer pong, pub crawls and a surprising amount of bowling, Arthur was glad to say that Fresher's was almost over.

Not that it hadn’t been a good time, he's met so many new people and maybe even made a few friends, but really Arthur was tired of it. Constantly introducing yourself, where you're from, what you're studying and where you're studying. And then having to feign interest in what the other one is saying.  
At some point Arthur had sat down in his dorm - a small but modern ensuite - and actually started typing out a list of all the people he'd been introduced to. He could _name_ fifty, he knew what _ten_ of them were studying and he hoped to stay in _contact_ with five of them.

And there was just so much going on at all times. UCL fresher's, The Hall's welcoming events, intercollegial Fresher's parties and events… It had been an overwhelming amount. After a week’s worth of it, Arthur had decided to take Saturday 'off' to spend some time on his own.

He took the time to get his room in some resemblance of order, i.e. organising his clothes in the closet, throwing his laundry in the basket and unboxing some of his personal belongings to make the room feel more like his. Cause it would be, for the whole of his first year at least. His father had at first suggested he move in with Morgana, which they had both protested vehemently against. Arthur was glad that Uther had relented and let Arthur stay in uni halls. He had still chosen one of the expensive ones, mind you, one that was also in a short walking distance from UCL.

So far, Arthur liked it at the Gardens. It was a fairly new building in Bloomsbury, located within ten minutes of King's Cross, UCL and Russel Square. There were many restaurants and take-away options nearby, which was especially nice because Arthur did not like the catered food served in the halls. What he liked even less was having to queue for his meal; it made him feel like a prisoner.

Arthur was not used to living on his own yet and it showed. After a week of drinking, his laundry had started piling up at the foot of his bed. So Arthur decided that on his free day, he should run a quick laundry trip to the laundry room downstairs. Alright, maybe not so quick because Arthur forgot to take his laundry card with him and then he also forgot he had to store money on it first. And then he had to go back for the detergent as well…. At this point he had given up on waiting for the elevators every time, resulting in him having to climb up five flights of stairs each time. He then managed to start the washing machine his clothes, having chosen the right setting with some help from Google.

Congratulating himself on a job ~~well~~ done, Arthur then sat around in front of the reception waiting to borrow the hoover. What a life. Rumour was someone had already managed to break one of the three hoovers by getting it's plug stuck in the elevator shaft. Which of course had also resulted in an out of order elevator. After about an hour Arthur had eventually vacuumed his room without too much of a struggle, really.

He then decided to check back on his laundry, only to find that someone else had put Arthur's wet clothes on the ground to make place for his own clothes. A fellow resident took pity on him, but also told him to just set an alarm next time and to collect his clothes on time. Also, apparently Saturday was not the best day to do laundry on. All the dryers were already full, although two of them already had their timers run out. Arthur considered taking the dry clothes out, just as someone had done to him, but he decided to wait for a maximum of ten minutes for their owner to pick them up. Thankfully they did. For the dryer Arthur still had his laundry card in his pocket all charged up, so it was just a matter of guessing at the right settings and _setting a timer_ on his phone.

Arthur spent the rest of his day exploring the area a bit more and getting some food. In the evening he had to call his father for a quick update and after that he played some games and caught up with some mates from his former high school. He went to bed relatively early, compared to the other Fresher's nights.

****

' _Thank god for brunch,_ ' Arthur thought as he checked the time on his phone. He had just woken up after a good ten hours of much needed sleep and feared that he'd missed breakfast. Although he did not like the dinners that the hall served, the same did not go for breakfast and brunch. The scrambled eggs were good, for one, and Arthur did not mind just taking some cereal. There were certainly plenty of types of milk and cereal to choose from. On a good day, he'd learned, there might even be some cinnamon buns mixed in with the standard croissants. And the one brunch he had yesterday had been alright, although Arthur was not used to being served pasta in the morning.

With brunch starting from 11 am, Arthur took the time for a quick shower before heading down, once again taking the stairs. By coincidence he got in the queue right behind Lance, who he had met on one of the hall's tennis courts earlier this week. He was talking to a girl, but he smiled at Arthur when he saw him.

"Hey Arthur, how've you been?" he greeted.

"I'm good, how are you? Been a busy week, hasn't it?"

Lance chuckled. "It certainly has. This is Gwen," he said, introducing the bushy haired girl who smiled up at him. "We went to the fresher's fair together yesterday. Gwen, this is guy I told you about that I met during tennis."

They exchanged nice-to-meet-you's and some more pleasantries before they reached the food. He learned that Gwen also went to UCL but was studying something medicine related. Arthur had honestly already forgotten what Lance studied, but at this rate he was just happy to even have remembered his name correctly.

After showing his little red card to a member of the kitchen staff, Arthur picked up his tray with food again. He saw Lance and Gwen waiting for him and together they went in search of a free table. The found a round one on the opposite side of the stairs and sat down.

"So the Fresher's fair, how was it then?" Arthur asked.

Gwen smiled at Lancelot as she answered. "It was a fun time just looking around, but there's so many societies I want to try out. My desk is just filled with free goodies and flyers and even more flyers and tote bags from the jobs fair."

Lancelot nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there's for sure a lot to offer. Are you planning on going today?"

Arthur shrugged. "I wasn't really planning on anything today, but if you think it's worth it I might."

"You should go! Most of the societies will be there and there's just so much diversity I think you'll definitely find something you like," Gwen said.

"Sounds good. So which societies are you planning on joining? Any ideas yet?"

"I will be going to a fencing taster session next week, maybe the medieval society as well. And I want to join another society that focuses on volunteer work," Lance answered first. He then turned expectantly to Gwen.

She started listing a whole bunch of them, among which Arthur thought he (mis)heard the Bubble Tea Society, the Sign Language Society, the Arts Society, Climate Action Society and the Muay Thai Club.

"I can see why you're struggling to make a choice," Arthur commented when she'd finished.

She blushed when Lancelot said: "You should have seen the amount of flyers she collected yesterday. Not to mention the mailing lists and digital pamphlets."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I will probably have to unsubscribe from most of them again, just so any uni emails don't get buried in my inbox."

****

At his new friends' advice, Arthur left for the Fresher's fair immediately after brunch. They had gone early yesterday and still had to wait outside the student centre for an hour. Although Arthur did not expect it to be as busy today, when he arrived on campus he saw a fair amount of people queuing to get in. He resigned himself to at least half an hour's worth of waiting and joined at the back of the line.

In front of him was a group of Asian looking girls, chatting away about their old high school experiences. Arthur half-heartedly listened in, not having anything else to do other than constantly checking his phone for a distraction. They were now comparing their schools, having apparently come from different regions or different countries. Arthur wasn't really sure. He had lived in England all his life and didn't know much about other educational systems.

Then the conversation shifted to bubble tea. Again! Arthur was quickly loosing interest again, when a low male voice joined in on the conversation. "Sorry to drop in but I overheard you were looking for a good bubble tea place. I went to this one in the Brunswick centre, I don't remember the name… but I was there a few days ago with a friend. It's not that far from UCL!"

He looked up and saw a tall and slender-looking guy with black hair and a pale face. Aside from his very distinct cheekbones, there wasn't anything especially remarkable about him. And yet, Arthur was intrigued. The boy easily struck up a conversation with the girls, who seemed extremely charmed by him. He sounded British, with maybe a hint of a Welsh accent.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that place!" A girl with curly black hair replied. "Thank you for reminding me, we should totally go there after the fair!" The last bit was mainly directed at her group of friends, though Arthur thought he saw her glancing hopefully at the boy again. "I'm Abby, it's nice to meet you."

Arthur sneaked a glimpse at his smile as he replied, "I'm Merlin, nice to meet you, too." Merlin then got introduced to the other girls in the group, Beatrix, Charlotte and Dahlia.

The queue then decided to move for the first time, as up ahead they started letting in a bunch of people at once. The students slowly shuffled forwards. Arthur's gaze kept flickering over to the unruly mop of hair on the back of Merlin's head. They came to a standstill again, and Arthur guessed that he would either just barely make it the next time or get stuck just on the wrong side of the cut-off.

A deep chuckle drew his attention back to the conversation playing out in front of him. It seemed like the girls had quickly welcomed Merlin in their group and were interested to hear all about his life. Apparently, he did come from Wales although he had done his A-levels in London. He used to live in a town called Ealdor with his mum, but he currently lives with his uncle Gaius in zone 3. Because of his commute he hasn't participated in many Fresher's activities, which the girls seemed to be scandalised at. He was also gay, information that made Abby's expression shift from wistful to resigned- and maybe still slightly wistful. When asked what he would be studying Merlin replied he was doing a 4-year Physics course, which he seemed to be very excited to talk about.

Arthur found himself thoroughly charmed. From what he'd overheard, Merlin was witty and kind and… yes, alright, good looking. Someone he wouldn't mind to get to know. If only he could think of a way to insert himself in the conversation the way Merlin had done so casually just moments before. But Arthur drew at a blank. The current topic of conversation was about some sci-fi or fantasy tv-series Arthur had never heard about. Apparently Merlin reminded Dahlia of the main character. Either way, it wasn't a topic Arthur was well-versed in.

He briefly considered googling the series to find out a semi-interesting fact he could share with them, effectively forcing himself into the conversation, but he wasn't that far gone yet. No really, he wasn't.

It wasn't like this was the first time Arthur had ever felt attraction to a guy, although it might be the first time that he felt in a position to do something about it. He hadn't come out to anyone yet, but he thought his closest friends might suspect something of the kind. He was glad they hadn't pressed him on the subject, giving him the time to figure things out himself first. Arthur knew for a fact that his father wouldn't approve, the man had always been very conservative in his ways and opinions. But now that he was away from home at last, Arthur was planning to explore the full extent of his attraction. After all, what better time to discover more about yourself?

Some volunteer students came walking along the queue, handing out students' union tote bags. Arthur accepted his with a brief nod and a thank you. Looking inside, he found a bottle of juice, a pen, a few badges and some papers. He was about to take them out to study them - while still listening to the conversation ahead of him, of course - when the line started moving again.

Next to the entrance stood another student, counting the number of fresher's they were letting in. Merlin, Abby and Beatrix had already made it in when Arthur noticed the reluctant look on the volunteer student's face. She let in the two other girls and then stopped Arthur.

"Are you with them?" she asked, gesturing over her shoulder. Arthur looked up at the group ahead of him, just in time to catch Merlin's eyes meeting his for just a moment. Merlin smiled hesitantly at him, opening his mouth to say something when Arthur beat him to it.

"No, that's alright," he told the student. She nodded and clicked the rope back in its place, effectively separating him from Merlin. Well, too bad. Merlin shrugged, seemingly sharing the sentiment as he went inside.

The student smiled apologetically at him. "It shouldn't be too long."

"It's fine," Arthur said offhandedly. And he was trying to convince himself it was. It wasn't a big deal, he'd just have to wait for maybe ten minutes tops. That's all there was to it. Arthur was sure that by the end of the day he probably wouldn't even remember Merlin anymore.

The remainder of the wait was boring, but decidedly filled with less hormone induced anxiety. By the time that he was finally allowed in, Arthur had managed to convince himself that he was back to his usual calm and suave self.

Going in, Arthur wasn't really prepared for the vast amount of societies present at the fair- although he could have suspected it from a university of this size. There were so many volunteering groups as well and he politely stopped to talk to the few of them that approached him. He had also discreetly taken a flyer from the LGBT+ society, though a kind smiling student had then also handed him rainbow button to go with it. Although he wasn't in the habit of using buttons, he did pocket it, not wanting to seem rude or something.

As he explored the fair, he noticed a bit of a trend and logic to the route. Most of the societies that focused on helping students or doing volunteer work as a student were at the beginning. After that followed more ethnic societies, for promoting other countries' cultures, spreading awareness or just providing some familiarity in a new city. Arthur didn't join any of them, not particularly interested in foreign foods or languages.

After that it was a bit more of a mix. Social networking societies, sports clubs, departmental societies and societies based loosely on common interests all over the spectrum; they were all spread out over the entirety of the campus. It was a bit crowded inside, but not so much that Arthur had any trouble finding out more about the ones that he liked. And to his surprise there were several of those. To start with, he had noted down dates for several taster sessions of martial arts, fencing, football and tennis.

Arthur also found himself being talked into signing up to some mailing lists for business or networking societies, he wasn't exactly sure himself what they were all about. At last he understood what Gwen had been on about this morning about her inbox getting flooded.

Through the chaos surrounding him, Arthur saw clearly the huge amount of diversity in the student body that was also reflected in the societies. He was surprised at the amount of interest in some of the more geeky ones, namely the previously mentioned Bubble Tea Society, but also the Knitting, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Bridge or Origami Society. Curiosity alone almost made him sign up to a few of these, but he decided in the end that they just weren't for him probably. He wondered if Merlin had signed up to any them, he had seemed more like the type to enjoy that’ stuff.

There were some societies of which he couldn't fathom what it was that they could actually do at their get togethers. He figured he'd probably find out if he bothered to, but the Nutrition, Tree or the Cloud Watchers Society just didn't seem that interesting to him.

At least, not until he spotted a familiar face talking excitedly to a student at the Cloud Watchers Society's stand. The guy was wearing a sky-blue shirt with, of course, a little white cloud logo. Arthur stared at him from across the room, only vaguely aware that he was blocking the path for some other freshers.

Had he never seen Merlin again in his life, Arthur figured he would have eventually made peace with it. But now that he was here, now that Arthur had a second chance, he was not planning on letting him slip away again.

"Excuse me, mate," a voice called from behind him. Arthur twisted around, as if snapping out of a trance. A guy with a scruff beard cleared his throat.

"Right, my apologies," Arthur said. He stepped aside, although there wasn't really much space, so he ended up pressed right against another booth. The guy shot him an amused look as he passed by. Arthur frowned at the stranger’s retreating back, before turning back towards Merlin. His frown deepened as he saw Merlin handing back a pen before taking off with a last smile. Arthur shot off after him, apologetically manoeuvring his way through the crowd.

Damn Merlin for wearing such a non-descript t-shirt. Arthur had already lost sight of him.

Swearing underneath his breath, Arthur turned back to where he'd started his chase. He saw the brown-haired guy from before, again looking at Arthur with an amused expression. Feeling a bit foolish, Arthur tried to act normal, pretending to be browsing the various stands again. Internally, he was berating himself for letting another opportunity slip away. He should have just approached Merlin immediately- even better, he should have talked to him while still outside. Even at such a short notice, it seemed history had a way of repeating itself.

Arthur had been moving on autopilot still, though he slowly became aware that his feet were guiding him a way through the students and towards one particular stand. As if compelled forward by some mystical force. Suddenly Arthur knew what he had to do in order to see Merlin again. He forced a smile on his face as he approached the Cloud Watchers Society.

"Hi, I'm Arthur. I'd like to sign up, please."

**Author's Note:**

> It's not one of my proudest works, but hopefully at least someone still got some enjoyment out of it!


End file.
